The Body Image Blues: Challenging a Cultural Obsession with “Thinness”

Our light and power

Have nothing

To do with the

Shape of our bodies

That house us.

Melody Godfred ~ Self Love Poetry

Writing about body image, society’s ideals of beauty, and health is hard. Like many people, I have struggled with body image, and my relationship with food and exercise. My mental health journey is interwoven in this narrative.

On the one hand, I am deeply critical of the media’s obsession with thinness and appearance. I see patriarchy and consumerism as influencing this cultural obsession. Not only does it undermine self-esteem and self-confidence, it also feeds competition over how we look with other people. I can recall many times when friends lost weight or talked about losing weight, feeling deflated. I suddenly felt less than. In a way, our bodies have become a commodity. When we are closer to the cultural idea, it gives us a certain power and belonging.  

I recently saw a fitness ad on YouTube where the woman is talking about how wall pilates made her body so awesome that her husband would never have a reason to leave her. As if having this perfectly sculpted body is the most important thing about her and that she needs it to keep her husband’s love. It made me both sad and angry. And yet…

I usually feel better when I am more fit and am feeling good about my weight. Health is very important to my overall wellbeing and mental health. This includes eating well and exercising. It includes working on my fitness level to care for my body. Health is an important value to me and to many people. When I exercise and eat well, I feel stronger, more flexible and toned and this boosts my self-esteem.

How do we balance being body positive and challenging norms around the “ideal” body while taking care of our own body and enjoying and participating in health? How do we know the line between taking care of our bodies and enjoying our style and appearance and behaviours motivated from insecurity or body-hate? I think these answers are personal and something that is important to reflect on because they can have far reaching consequences in our lives.

The general statistics of eating disorders in Canada give us a sense of the magnitude of the body image issue. Eating disorders don’t come just from societal perspectives but our society’s obsession with thinness is a significant contributor (The BetterHelp Editorial Team, 2025). According to Statistics Canada research taking from 2013 to 2016, at any particular time, between 600,000 and 990,000 Canadians fit diagnostic criteria for eating disorders (Eatwell Blog, n.d.). About 80% of eating disorder patients are women (Eatwell Blog, n.d.). About 25% of women with healthy weight view themselves as obese (Eatwell Blog, n.d.).

The research article, “Re-shaping Body Image: Tape Sculptures as Arts-Based Social Justice,” explores the relationship to societal norms and body image:

“Body image ideals, such as size and shape, are rooted in cultural values. Implicit and explicit messages regarding body image and idealized shape are encountered daily. Mainstream advertising in many Western cultures promotes the dominant narrative of a culture of dieting whereby thinness and happiness are intrinsically linked. Idealized bodies featured in the media can lead to increased body dissatisfaction in men, women, and those who do not subscribe to gender binary tropes” (Yamamiya, Cash, Melnyk, Posavac, & Posavac, 2005).